atkinson



(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 1. W. H. ATKINSON.

MACHINE FOR SEAMING IRREGULAR SHAPED CANS.

.No. 279,853. Patented June 19,1883.

Wm. azwbkinso N. PETERS. PhaloLilhngl-Apher. Washmglom n. C.

No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W. H. ATKINSON.

MACHINE FOR SBAMING IRREGULAR SHAPED GVANS. No. 279,853. Patented June19,1883.

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N. PETERS. PhMv-Lllhographar. Washington. 0.1;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM H. ATKINSON,.OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO SOMERSBROTHERS, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR SEAMING lRRE GULAR-SHAPED CANS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 279,853, dated June 19,1883.

Application filed April 23, 1893. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM H. ATKIN- soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and

State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMachines for Seaming Irregular Shaped Cans, fully described andrepresented in the following specification and the accompanyingdrawings, form- IO ing a part of the same.

This invention relates to an apparatus for uniting the ends and bodiesof tin cans and other similar vessels, it being the object of theinvention to produce an apparatus of this class I 5 which shall becapable of performing this operation upon vessels of other thancylindrical form.

To this end the invention consists in various details of constructionand combinations of parts in an apparatus of this character, all ofwhich are hereinafter so fully explained and particularly pointed out asto render any preliminary description unnecessary.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of those portionsof the apparatus embodying the present invention. Fig.2 is a verticalsection of the same, taken upon the line as w of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isavertical section taken upon the line .1000 of Fig. 2, and Fig.

4 is a vertical section taken upon the line 2 z of Fig. l. Fig. 5 is aview similar to Fig. 1, showing the invention embodied in a differentand in some respects preferable form. Fig. 6 is avertical section takenuponthe line :0 x of Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the partsshown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 4, it is to be understood that theframe-work 10, which is of any convenient or suitable form for sup- 40porting the working parts of the apparatus, is

provided with a fixed head-stock, 11, and movable tail-piece 12, similarto those of an ordinary lathe. The tail-piece is provided with a pivotedspindle, 13, the end of which carries a disk or plate, 14, ofsubstantially the size and shape of the end of the can or vessel to beoperated upon. The head-stock carries the usual shaft, 15, the outer endof which is provided with one or more pulleys, as 41 42 5o 43, and belts44 45, through which it receives motion from any convenient source ofpower,

while its inner end is provided with a head, 16, of substantially thesize and shape of the end of the can or vessel to be operated upon. Saidhead consists of a die or mandrel portion, 5 5 3, and a cam or patternportion, 4;

The seaming apparatus proper consists of a pair of flanging-rollers, 1718, carried upon studs in the ends of a pair of bars, 19, mounted upon ayoke-shaped carriage, 20, which is arranged to slide in dovetail grooves(see Fig. 3) in a bed-piece, 21, secured to the frame 10 of the machine.The bars 19, carrying the flanging-rollers, slide freely in slots in thecarriers 20, and are provided with springs 9, the tendency of which isto draw the rollers away from the heads 16. The bars 19 are alsoprovided with studs 8, which project laterally through slots 7, and areattached to the bell-crank lcvers 6, which are pivoted to the side ofthe carriage. The opposite ends of the levers 6 are provided with bowlsor antifriction rollers 5, which lie upon or in close proximity to abed-plate, 37. hinged to the frame 10, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. Asmall hand-lever, 38, is pivoted to the frame 10 in such position thatit can be operated to raise and lower the plate 37, and thereby, throughthe levers 6, move the flanging-rollers toward the head 16 when desired.The ends of the carriage 20 are also provided with a second pair ofarms,

24, which also pass through slots in said carriage, and are secured inany desired position by means of the plates 22 and screw-bolts'23. Thesearms carry at their inner ends small rolls 25, the purpose of which willbe hereinafter explained. The bed-piece 21 is provided with alongitudinal groove, (see Fig. 3,) in which rests a bar, 26, the ends ofwhich extend beyond the ends of the carriage, and are 0 provided withpulleys 27 28, over which pass cords 29 30, one of the ends of which isse cured to the ends of the carriage, whileto the opposite ends areattached weights 31 32. The

bar 26 is provided at one of its ends. with an 5 arm, 33, to which ispivoted a hand-lever, 34, having its fulcrum in an arm, 35, projectingfrom the frame 10.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows:

The body of the can or other vessel having been formed and made slightlyflaring at the ends in the usual manner, and the blanks for the 2 amassends having been made slightly disk-like in form, as is also usual, theend blanks will be placed in proper position upon the body, and theparts thus assembled will be inserted between the pattern-head 16 andthe plate 14, where they will be held, as indicated by dotted lines inFig. 1, by adjusting the tail-stock so as to give the required degree ofpressure.

When the assembled parts are in this position the mandrel part 3 of thehead 16 will exactly fit into the dislrshaped depression in the end ofthe can against which it rests, and thus cause the outline of the can toconform to that of the head. The lever 34 will be moved to the positionshown in Figs. 1 and 2, thereby moving the pulley 27 to sucha positionas to raise the weight 31 and the pulley 28 to such a position as toallow the weight 32 to come to rest upon the floor or a suitablesupport, 36. As soon as the weight 31 is raised off its support 36 itwill draw the carriage along the bed-piece 21, so as to bring the rollagainst the cam or pattern part 4 of the head 16. The shaft 15 will thenbe set in motion, thereby turning the head 16 and with it the can, andthe handlever 38 will be operated so as to compress the spring 9 an dcarry the Hanging-roller 17 into contact with the edge of the end blankwhich is to be bent over to form the seam, all as shown in Figs. 1 and2. As the head 16 revolves, the carriage 20, carrying the flangingroller17, will move freely back and forth along the bed 21, the weight 31acting to hold the roll 25 constantly against the pattern part 4 of thehead, so as to cause the flanging roller to follow the edge of the endblank, no matter how irregular its shape, while at the same time thelever 38 will be operated to gradually advance the flanging-roller asthe edge of the en d blank is bent over.

In order to lay the seam smoothly and evenly around the corners, it willusually be found desirable, after the seam has been partly formed in themanner just described, to reverse the motion of the shaft 15, for whichpurpose the shaft will be provided with any ordinary form of reversingapparatus, so as to cause the roller 17 to pass over the scam in theopposite direction. As shown in the present case, this reversing isaccomplished by shifting the belt 44 from the fast to the loose pulleyand the belt from. the loose to the fast pulley.

In order to properly complete the seam, it will usually be best toemploy two flangingrollers having grooves of different sizes. \Vhen,therefore, the seam has partially been. formed by the roller 17, thelever 34 will be reversed, so as to lower the weight 31, raise theweight 32, and bring the opposite roll, 25, into contact with theportion 4 of the head. The lever 38 will then be operated to bring theflanging-roller 18 into contact with the edge of the end blank to finishthe seam. In the course of finishing the seam by the roller 18 the shaft15 will be reversed, the same as before. After one end of the can hasbeen finished, as just described, the can will be reversed, as indicatedin Fig. 1, and the operation will be repeated upon the opposite end.

The head 16 will of course be made removable, so that a larger orsmaller head, or one of different shape, can be substituted, so as tocapacitate the apparatus to operate upon cans of different sizes andshapes, and the bars 24 can by means of the plates 22 and bolts 23 beadjusted to different positions, so as to co operate with the differentheads.

The lever 34 may be provided with any suitable device for looking it ineither of its positions; or it may beheld in proper position by theoperator.

It is also apparent that springs may be substituted for the weights 3132, and many other changes made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the invention.

The head 16 will preferably be hollowed out upon its face, as shown inFig. 4, so as to afford room for any projection which may be formed uponeither end of the can.

In Figs. 5, 6, and 7 an organization is shown in which both of theflanging-rollers are placed upon the same side of the head 16, the bar26 and its connections and the weight 32 being dispensed with. For thispurpose one of the upwardly-extending ends of the carriage 20 isomitted, the remaining end being provided with an adjustable head, 39,in which the bar 19, carrying both of the flanging-rollers, is mounted.The head 39 slides upon a (love tail projection on the carriage, asshown in Figs. 5 and 6, said carriage being provided with an adjlisting-screw, as 40, similar to those employed for moving thetool-stocks in ordi nary lathes, by which the head 39 can be shifted soas to bring either of the wheels 17 18 into operative position. Thepulley 27 in this case is mounted upon the bed-piece 21, and thebed-plate 37 is of course very much re duced in length. The operation ofthis organi zation is substantially the same as that already described,except that the second flangingwheel is brought into operative positionby moving the head 39 instead of by moving the carriage 20.

The two fianging-rollers may be made inte gral, as shown in Fig. 5; orthey maybe made independent of each other; or, if preferred, the arm 19may be provided with means for carrying only one wheel, said wheel beingmade removable, so that after it has performed its work it can beremoved and another substituted to finish the seaming operation.

For the sake of clearness of illustration and description the levers 34and 38 and the adjusting-screw 40 are shown as arranged to be operatedby hand; but when the manufacture is to be conducted in the most rapidand economical manner these parts, and also the reversing apparatus,will be arranged to operate automatically.

\Vhile it is preferable that the cam 4 and the mandrel 3.should be madein one piece, as shown, yet this construction is not necessary. Theseparts may be made separate and located IIO in close proximity, or thecam may be located upon the shaft 15, without departing from theprinciple of the invention.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. The combination, with the carriage 20, providedwith aflanging-roll as 17, and means for advancing and retracting saidroll independently of the carriage, of the guide-roll 25 and thepattern-head 16 for controlling said carriage, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination, with the carriage 20, provided with a plurality offlanging-rolls, and means for advancing and retracting said rollsindependently of the carriage, and for bringing either of said rollsinto and out of operative position, of the pattern-head l6, andconnections through which said head controls said carriage,substantially as described.

3. The combination with the carriage 20,

20 provided with one or more flanging-rolls, of

thepattern-head 16 and connections for controlling said carriage, andthe plate 37 and connections for controlling said flanging roll orrolls, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the pattern-head 16, of the yielding carriage20, provided with the adjustable head 39, carrying a yieldingflangiligroll, as 17 substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the pattern-head 16 and means for reversing themotion of the same, of the yielding carriage 20, operated by the roll25, and carrying a yielding fl'angingroll, as 17 all substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

XVILLIAM H. ATKINSON. \Vitnesses':

J OHN T. ARMS,

ABRAHAM FISHER.

